Eh? Gordy's opening a sure sign of spring

In what has become a traditional sign of spring in Cloquet, Gordy’s Hi-Hat opens for the season today. Opened in 1960 and still owned by the same family, Gordy’s was featured on the Food Network’s show “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives” last year. So if you have a hankering for hand-pattied burgers, homemade onion rings and fresh malts, head to Cloquet. After all, October and Gordy’s seasonal closure will be here all too soon.

New local history scholarship announced

The St. Louis County Historical Society’s Veterans’ Memorial Hall has a new $500 annual college scholarship for history majors and minors living in the county.

The Mike Colalillo Medal of Honor Scholarship will be awarded to students willing to produce a research paper on a military history topic about county veterans. The application deadline for the first round is April 15. Applications should be sent to Veterans’ Memorial Hall, 506 W. Michigan St., Duluth, MN 55802. For an application or more information, call (218) 733-7500.

Time running out for 2007 tax refunds

Are you one of the 14,000 Minnesotans who hasn’t filed a 2007 tax return yet? The IRS is looking for you — with money in hand.

The IRS has nearly $14 million in tax refunds for Minnesotans who haven’t filed 2007 tax returns. To get the refunds, taxpayers must file their 2007 tax return by April 18.

Some people may not have filed a tax return because they had too little income to require filing, even though they had paid taxes. The IRS doesn’t penalize taxpayers for the late filing of a return that qualifies for a refund. But a refund must be claimed within three years or the money becomes the property of the U.S. Treasury.

Current and prior-year tax forms and instructions are available on the IRS website at www.irs.gov or by calling (800) 829-3676.

Making a clean sweep

The Greater Downtown Council is asking its members to lend a hand with spring cleanup of Duluth’s Downtown Waterfront District.

City crews plan to sweep the streets in the district beginning this week, and the council is asking people in the area to sweep sidewalk dirt and sand over the curb for the street sweepers to collect.

Beware robocalls

The Wisconsin Consumer Protection Hotline is receiving more complaints about robocalls — prerecorded phone calls often used by scammers to collect personally identifiable information, such as credit card numbers.

The current crop of robocalls begin with an automated greeting by a woman named “Rachel,” identifying herself as being with “cardholder services” calling to offer a lower credit card interest rate. Consumers are given the option of pressing a number to speak to a live representative and are asked to provide credit card information.

People who receive such calls should immediately hang up. Consumers should never provide credit card, bank or Social Security numbers over the phone unless they made the call and know that they are dealing with a legitimate business, the Wisconsin Division of Trade and Consumer Protection said.

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